Manchester City tell the kids to head for the kitchen and stick it in the onion bag as part of their life skills training
Premier League wannabees cook up a treat by whipping up a decent meal as part of their life-skills programme
WHEN Manchester City’s youngsters talk about the "onion bag"; it might not be what you think.
Sure they are pretty useful at sticking the ball in there — as 11 goals in their last three FA Youth Cup ties shows.
But stars of the future such as Tyreke Wilson, Jadon Sancho and Joel Latibeaudiere could also be chatting about their latest cookery lesson.
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It is just one part of the life-skills programme 16 to 18-year-olds get at the City Football Academy.
The aim is to try to get their young prospects ready to live an independent life and that includes whipping up a decent square meal.
Things get progressively more difficult and by the end they have a ‘Ready Steady Cook’ challenge.
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So orders to ‘get into the box’ might have nothing to do with the penalty area that day and be more about seeing what groceries they have got to work with.
Head of education Mark Adams said: “We start to tell the boys at Under-9 about when they should be eating and hydration.
“It progresses through the age groups and when they are scholars, we start the life-skills programme and cookery is the one they enjoy the most.
“We try to get everything cooked within a 45-minute period. We don’t want the boys to be spending a long time preparing their meals — but we want them to make the right choices.”